The Wizards have to be at least a little concerned that their superstar, Gilbert Arenas, the player in whom they invested more than $111 million and tied their success to, is possibly not the same player he was before undergoing three knee surgeries.

He has exceeded 30 points just once this season and, in late stretches at the end of games, new coach Flip Saunders has on more than one occasion opted to go with other players. Arenas clearly hasn't regained the explosiveness that once characterized his game, and in the team's last two games he has posted season lows in scoring.

The Wizards maintain that Arenas still isn't near his peak and that he might not reach it for some time, but there are others who believe that the player who once sparked so much hope for the future is a thing of the past.

"I had my doubts that he would be the same player after all of those knee surgeries, and now it's looking like I was right," a former Wizard, speaking anonymously, said.

BOBCATS 92, WIZARDS 76: The Wizards played as poorly as they have all season while failing to achieve what would have been their first three-game winning streak since April 2008. Caron Butler led the Wizards, who never led, with 19 points.